Till the Heart Caves In
by Sunshine-hime
Summary: Keith should have thought things through more. They should have gone back like Hunk suggested and get those supplies and backup before descending over ten kilometers in a massive and unmapped cave system.


**I'm back bitches! With a new Voltron story no less, written during NaNoWriMo. This was part of a fic exchange with the amazing, incredible, and fantastically talented Cullhach from Ao3. Her story is the "The Cold Embrace of Starlight" so please go read that masterpiece!**

**From Wikipedia as a reference, since this piece makes the use of this particular medical practice: "Tamponade is the closure or blockage (as of a wound or body cavity) by or as if by a tampon, especially to stop bleeding. Tamponade is a useful method of stopping a hemorrhage. This can be achieved by applying an absorbent dressing directly into a wound, thereby absorbing excess blood and creating a blockage, or by applying direct pressure with a hand or a tourniquet."**

**Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of blood and gore.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender and make no profit from this work.**

* * *

Hindsight is always 20/20.

Shiro says that almost as much as "patience yields focus" and it's just as true. Keith should have thought things through more. They should have gone back like Hunk suggested and get those supplies _and backup_ before descending over ten kilometers in a massive and unmapped cave system.

It started with an exploration mission in a deep, abandoned jungle on Olkarion. Ryner contacted Allura and Coran concerning an incredibly powerful reading she picked up in that area. But since the Olkari were still rebuilding after they took back their cities from Galra occupation, they were too shorthanded and couldn't risk giving or potentially losing any manpower to investigate.

Keith volunteered to check out the place and Hunk came with him as backup, since he's one of two Paladins who knew how to use the tracking device (with Pidge being way too into the current technical happenings of the Olkari to be pulled away for anything). The trip through the humid, sticky jungle filled with thick green vegetation was mostly uneventful. Eventually it yielded a cavern entrance made of black stone. Judging from the way the tracker practically screeched in response, they assumed that the source of the readings were further inside.

Thanks to the electromagnetic pulses the device gave off that acted as a sort of magnetic echolocation (and that's all Keith could really understand from Hunk), they had a rough map of most of the cave's infrastructure. Which turned out to be much deeper than they thought. It was composed of several levels with each one a little over 500 kilometers for a total of five main levels, plus side pathways that meandered into what looked like countless dead ends.

This cave was over 300 kilometers deeper than the deepest cave on Earth, the Veryovkina Cave. And so what if he knew that, caves are cool and he liked reading about them back on Earth. Hunk side-eyed him after he blurted that all out but didn't comment on it. But he did have something to say about the whole expedition.

"Okay so Keith. I don't know what you want to hear and I honestly don't care because I am absolutely not exploring a cave that is over 2,500 kilometers deep. Especially when it's just the two of us, with no supplies in case we get trapped, and the others have no clue where we are."

Keith bit his tongue because that's exactly what he was going to suggest they do. And a large part of him still wanted to do because an opportunity like this doesn't come around often. So he pulled his best Lance impression (and he's never admitting that to _anyone_) to subtly wheedle things his way.

"I'm sure we don't have to explore the entire thing anyway. Just enough to, I don't know, drop a tiny tracking device somewhere in there and scan the readings that way? And we can just use our transmitters to tell Shiro and the others if something happens."

Hunk eyed him suspiciously and Keith looked away, hoping he wasn't figured out so easily. But then he sighed and slouched over in his telltale sign of resignation and Keith almost felt bad. But then remembered they were going _caving_ and his pulse picked up in his sudden rush of excitement.

"But. Only _five kilometers_. That's it. We don't have any climbing equipment and the jetpacks aren't stable enough for this kind of descending."

Resisting the urge to punch the air in triumph, he instead followed Hunk inside.

The cave's insides were like a bizarre cross between the forests that the Olkari inhabited while their city was occupied and the city structures themselves. There was a slight breeze and the air was a strange mix of cool and stagnant. Even stranger was that instead of the must of ancient air, the cave had the thick earthy scent of dirt and crushed green leaves.

They were only in the beginning but his pulse was racing already, the very air charged with a buzzing of energy that only caves naturally formed over millions of years could possess. It was like stepping into an intimate part of a planet's history, something to be revered. It reminded Keith of the that cave he discovered in the desert mountains that contained those paintings, and the excitement he felt during the year he slowly uncovered its ancient secrets.

Interwoven in the inky black stone were thick tree like roots, but there were no cracks in either their entry or exit points. As if the ancient wood melded into the rock perfectly, like the ebony wood always belonged there. Etched in the stone walls were glyphs that pulsated with a blue glow. Keith reached out to touch the symbols but they were completely smooth and gave off no heat. Strange.

Even stranger was how, other than the roots and glyphs, there were no signs of natural weathering or large grooves. Not even any stalagmites or stalactites. Just perfectly smooth dark stone on the ceiling, walls, and floor. Even something like the smooth walls of Antelope Canyon couldn't compare to this.

About ten dobashes in, they reached an incredible, almost dizzying drop straight down. It reminded him of the steep vertical drop of Ellison's Cave, and he remembered how thrilling it looked seeing one of the explorers descending by rope.

The walls along the drop of this cave were of the same composition as the ones they passed by, with the same glowing characters. Keith could hear the faint sounds of rushing waters far below and imagined there was a waterfall and lake in the lower levels.

"Ha ha, oh man. That, that is a _steep drop_ right there."

Keith could barely hear Hunk over his own pulse in his ears; his blood was thrumming with the excitement of exploring this undiscovered system.

"-drop we'll plant the energy readers and then fly back up with the jetpacks. Okay?"

With barely a nod to acknowledge the last of Hunk's instructions, Keith searched for stable footholds. Since the rock itself was without any cracks or holes, they would have to use the roots to grab instead. He spotted a perfect hold on the opposite side of the platform they were standing on then immediately glided over on the jetpack, letting himself drop far enough to grab at the particularly thick root.

Keith let the rush die down just a bit, then waved over Hunk to join him. "It's safe over here. The root's strong enough to support us."

Hunk hesitated a bit longer and Keith could practically see him wringing his hands and biting his lower lip. Then he followed the same path as Keith, just barely gripping the root next to Keith. Keith grabbed Hunk by the back and stabilized him by pushing him against the rock face.

Keith turned to look at Hunk and he could feel the grin splitting his face in half. "That wasn't so bad, right?"

Hunk panted, face red as if he ran a mile straight without stopping. Which, when he thinks about it, they're pretty much going to do. And since Hunk is in excellent shape, Keith guessed it was his normally terrible reaction to adrenaline. "That wasn't. Because it was so much worse."

"Well get used to it, cause we need to go down several kilometers like this."

Hunk groaned and lightly banged his head on the stone.

And so the pair carefully made their way down this way, with Keith testing out a viable path first and Hunk following just behind him. Along the way they found small sheets of black stone sticking out that Hunk and him could barely stand on, which they made use of to rest for a few minutes before they continued.

Eventually they reached the five kilometer mark and found more stable ground. A strange jutting out of the same black rock that created a neat little platform almost, but no obvious signs of stress or cracking from its formation. Which was another oddity and Keith made a mental note of it.

Hunk pulled out the main tracker. "Let's see now. Well the energy output here is way stronger and-aw man, it's still not getting an accurate enough reading for the source."

Keith felt himself perk up at the news and is forced to turn away at Hunk's deadpan stare. "Well, I guess we have to explore a bit deeper then."

Hunk removed his helmet and scrubbed at his sweaty face. "We're taking a long break before we even think of deciding anything else. My poor heart can't take all this dropping around and threat of eminent death with one tiny mistake."

"Fine, we'll rest up here for a bit then figure out how far we need to descend." In truth Keith felt guilty dragging Hunk down further into the cave. But there was no way he could pass up this opportunity. The sound of the running water grew in volume the lower they went and Keith just knew there's a huge cave lake somewhere nearby. He recalled pictures of them in the articles that he poured over and if they were that breathtaking on Earth, he can't imagine how gorgeous they would be on Olkarion.

After they rested and drank from the water pouches they stored in the upper thighs of their armor (an incredibly useful feature Keith was glad they took advantage of), he eventually convinced Hunk to descend at least five more kilometers before laying down the smaller tracker and making their way back up.

As they continued their journey, Keith noticed that the characters subtly began changing their colors, from a light blue to a darker blue once they hit the ten kilometer mark.

Around that point, they found another jutting platform. But this one had a small opening in the rock face itself, which led into a long narrow pathway. As they peered in the path illuminated only by the glowing glyphs, Hunk pulled out his device again and turned it back on. He nearly dropped it and winced along with Keith when it let out a piercing high pitched whine.

"Hunk! Turn it off!"

"I know I know, hold on!" He finally got the machine to stop screeching but kept the minimap enabled. "Okay so...holy crap! The originating point of the signal is like, right through there. And it's _strong_."

Keith crossed his arms as he listened. "So how far does this path go anyway?" Looking around the walls, the glyphs were still displayed but their color was a bright, almost _blood_ red instead of the other colors they've seen so far.

"According to the map, about six or seven meters straight, then hits a dead end. And whatever was causing the signal in the first place is right at that end." Hunk suddenly stretched and slowly backed away from the mouth of the pathway. "So I suggest we chuck the mini tracker in there and just...you know..."

Keith grabbed him and held him in place. "We have to check it out Hunk. Can't just leave it be. What if it turns out to be something dangerous?"

"Exactly! And you think we can take it on ourselves, with no backup?"

Keith didn't bother answering, just made his way inside. He did agree with Hunk that it could be something dangerous. But that's why they had to check it out now, so it wouldn't cause any issues for the Olkari later.

Keith wishes he listened to Hunk.

He could hear Hunk call out his name a few times and then footsteps a few paces behind him. Just in case he summoned his Bayard, feeling a prickling sensation on the back of his neck.

It got even darker as he went deeper in. Keith was worried they would hit a squeeze and be forced to turn back, but the path stayed open enough for them both to go through. And it smelled rank, like a barn. He heard a crunching noise under his feet with every step, feeling something old splintered beneath the armored boots.

Near the end of the pathway he flicked on the built in flashlight in his helmet, and the second pair of light beams that flashed nearby told him Hunk had done the same.

Hunk let out a quickly cut off yelp just as Keith noticed that they had been stepping on massive piles of bleach white bones.

He looked forward which automatically aimed the lights ahead. Against the wall was a huge beast covered in thick black fur, ribcage expanding as it slept. Keith took one more step toward it and suddenly the red characters on the walls shone bright, bright enough to force his eyes shut in pain for a few precious seconds and the cry from Hunk behind him meant it caught him too.

The beast's eyes nearly glowed when Keith opened his eyes again - two yellow pupil-less beads against all black. It growled and split its mouth open and several rows of razor sharp white teeth greeted them. Thick red saliva dripped across them and down its mouth.

Keith could feel the breath punch out of his lungs. It felt like the atmosphere around them dropped ten degrees. He raised his sword, hands shaking violently, and readied a strike as the beast stood up on all four legs. "Hunk get out of here, I'll hold it off-"

"!"

Something shifted in the air, the beast suddenly between Keith and Hunk, and a fist-sized chunk of flesh and muscle was now missing from Keith's left side. For a moment time froze and Keith stood in place, stunned for a moment. The beast turned its head around and Keith turned his own head. He could see the chunk of meat-_oh god_-hanging from its mouth, blood dripping from it.

Without looking down, he brought his hand slowly to his side and immediately felt sticky, warm blood pouring from the gaping hole in his side. It hit him that a piece of him was missing from his body. White hot agony burned and ripped and tore through him, just as the beast had done and Keith suddenly remembered the moment of skin and muscle and fat ripping and tearing as the knife like teeth sunk into his side and pulled out meat like a chunk of bread from a freshly baked loaf.

He tried to yell out to Hunk but the pain was too much and he felt his body hit the ground. He could barely breathe, inhaling great gasps of air and he heard Hunk screaming, the sounds of his Bayard going off and bullets hitting the walls.

That drove him to action and he grit his teeth, holding back screams as he pushed and lifted his body from the ground. He felt more tearing from his wound but he continued until he could reach behind him and grab his knife.

Keith took aim as his vision swam and blurred, agony threatening to make him black out. He threw the knife and it sunk into the beast's upper hind leg. It howled in pain and changed direction, heading for Keith. The last of his strength failed him and he fell again, vision growing darker.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was a great white pulse that fanned out and the characters on the walls flickering out.

* * *

Keith comes to, the sound of rushing water greeting his ears. He groans and tries to move from his lying position then gasps, breath stuttering at the sudden pain shooting up his left side. Hunk, who's sitting to his right, pushes gently on his chest and holds him still.

"Easy buddy, you gotta keep still. You're injured, remember?"

He has a splitting headache and he feels really cold. He knows that's a bad thing but can't be bothered to remember why. He does vaguely recall what happened: there was some strange large beast that attacked him and ripped, that ripped his...oh...ohhhh...

His breathing comes much faster as he feels panic overtake him.

"It's okay Keith, I'm right here. I'm going to patch you up. I can't call for help because of course our comms are down now - stupid EMP wave - but I'll carry you myself and we'll get out of here and put you in a pod and you'll be good as new." Hunk is stroking Keith's hair and it feels nice so he tries to do what Hunk says and calm down. It doesn't work too well but he feels a little better. Small victories and all.

"Okay so this next part is, like, gonna really suck. I, I have to plug up your wound because the bleeding won't stop and you lost a lot of blood already and you might be bleeding internally too since I think it caught an-." Hunk cuts himself off and Keith barely catches a swear. If Hunk is cursing it must be really bad. For some reason that thought is really funny. He picks up the tail end of Hunk's last sentence "-at, it'll suck a lot less."

Keith tries to answer him but it's like working his mouth around a wad of cotton after swallowing a fistful of sand. He manages to croak something out before Hunk can start ranting again. "ss 'in Hun. Go 'hea 'n do it..."

"Okay, y-you got it buddy. I'll do this real fast or, or maybe not real fast but I won't drag it out either. Just gotta, just gotta get in there and stop the b-bleeding. I can do this, I can-aw jeez..."

Keith is just able to tilt his head to get a better look at Hunk. Somehow his face is both pale and green and his eyes are wet and shining. That's right, Hunk doesn't do well with blood or gore.

With a groan, Keith moves his right arm over enough to grab at Hunk's nearby hand and lightly squeeze it. Hunk immediately stops his nervous babbling and stares at him. "Ss k' Hun' y'll be fin'" he forces out before running out of energy again. He really must have lost a lot of blood to be this tired.

Hunk nods and his face sets. It's the same look of determination when piloting Yellow or when he's helping Coran with emergency repairs or when he's concentrating on a new recipe. That look makes Keith feel at ease and he knows he'll be fine.

"I had to borrow your knife to cut my flight suit sleeves a little earlier — sorry about that by the way." Leave it to Hunk to apologize for doing something to save his life. "I was ready to plug up the wound when you woke up, which I kinda wish you didn't have to be up for."

Keith struggles to keep his breathing even, knowing that he's going to be in for a bad time. The idea of Hunk having to put something inside of the hole in his body sounds..._really_ awful. It's hard to accept that this is going to happen to him very soon.

Also, he must be seriously out of it because how did he not notice that Hunk's arms are bare until now?

"It turns out our flight suits have hemostatic agents in it, which are normally great for stopping bleeding. Unless they, uh, get bitten off _with_ the injury." As he speaks, he's folding and refolding one of the cut sleeves until it forms a thick wad of material.

Hunk finishes, gulps, and Keith feels his stomach clench in sudden fear, cold beads of sweat forming on his brow. Then his abdomen clenches too and pain spikes again and he's aware of the fact that a chunk of his body is missing, it _should_ be there and it's _gone_. He thinks about the feeling of teeth sinking in and pulling and ripping out his flesh and his mouth waters as his stomach turns.

"I-I'm really sorry about this. And, um. Here, might want to bite down on this." He puts the hilt of the knife in front of Keith's face. A gag to bite down on. Keith takes the hilt in his mouth and gets a firm grip with his teeth.

And in one forceful motion, Hunk presses the cloth against the gap.

Keith's jaw bites down on the hilt hard. He feels the material pressing in. The pain is making him shake and Hunk has barely started. Against his better judgement he looks down and sees the wound. Shredded remains of torn skin that flap a bit, pieces of frayed muscle and soft wet tissue hanging out around the skin. It's so hideous and horrifying that he can't look away.

"I'm pushing this in now." And he pushes the cloth deeper into the hole. The ravaged remains of flesh, fat, and muscle are on fire as the cloth rubs and presses against ragged nerve endings. He can definitely feel it touching something very soft and fragile inside and Hunk pushes in even more and Keith has to bite tighter around the hilt to keep from screaming. He can hear himself whine from the pain.

It's wrong, so wrong that something outside is inside him, touching and moving against something in him. Hunk keeps pushes against the soft thing which Keith thinks in a panic that must be an organ. The cloth rubs and chafes his damaged nerve endings and Keith is panting, sucking in as much air as he can around his knife. He's sweating and hot and the pain and wrongness is too much, it hurts so much.

"All right I, I-I think the, uh, the b-bleeding inside almost stopped. I have to wrap the other sleeve around you now to, to hold it in place." The pressure only increases on his insides and Keith moans. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm almost done, I'm almost done. You're doing real great buddy."

Hunk's voice is soothing and nice and makes Keith feel a little more grounded. Like he's not floating. He tries to calm his breathing but it hitches when the pain spikes.

Hunk is wrapping something around his hip, it completely covers the stuffed injury and then he pulls it tightly on Keith's right side, then ties it there.

"I'm done Keith. All done. We're all finished now. I just gotta pick you up, yeah? And then we'll get out of here." Hunk takes the knife out of Keith's mouth and taps it against his upper thigh, storing it inside the Yellow Paladin armor. He bends down and Keith feels Hunk's arms slide under his body before he lifts and Keith gasps in pain as the wad of cloth shifts inside him.

Hunk mumbles an apology that he can barely hear and holds Keith close to his side with one arm. Keith does his best to grip Hunk's shoulders as Hunk activates his jetpack and shoots off the platform toward the nearest wall.

It's long, tiring work Keith is sure. Having to support his dead weight with one arm while grabbing and holding on to the thick roots with the other. Even with Hunk's strength he's laboring and it makes his stomach crawl with guilt. This whole mess is his fault. They only ended up down here as far as this because he wanted to explore the cave. And that beast only attacked because he got too close to it.

And Hunk has to lug him all the way back up, armor and all. And if Keith knows Hunk, he feels guilty for every groan and whine Keith lets out when he's jostled too much or hits the stone cave wall when Hunk grabs a handhold.

At the five kilometer mark, they stop for a rest at the same outcropping and Hunk lays him back down gently before collapsing next to him. He's panting hard and Keith tilts his head to see his face. It's red and sweaty. He looks terrible.

Hunk notices him looking and gives him a thumbs up and a small smile. A few minutes later and Hunk sits up with a groan. "Alright, let's take a look at your bandages. Might have loosened on the way up and all."

He pulls the knife out again and gives it to Keith as his gag. He can't stop shaking long enough to bite it with his teeth so Hunk easies it in himself. Keith tries to relax. It's only an adjustment, it'll take a minute and then he's done. And yet his stomach drops at having to feel that material move around in his wound again.

Hunk reaches over him and unties the outer sleeve. He gently prodes the shoved in material but Keith's jaw still clenches the hilt as the cloth rubs against the exposed nerves and flesh again. "Still bleeding but it's a lot better. Bad news is, it's too loose and I have to fix it." Without warning he pushes the cloth in again and Keith gasps at the pressure against his injury.

In what feels like forever but is probably a minute at most, everything's tied up again and Hunk cradles him to his side. They stand together and Keith's dangling legs pulls on the wound. A fresh wave of pain and dizziness hits him and it's harder to cling to Hunk, but he forces himself to anyway.

They take off and Hunk's breathing comes out way harder now. About half way to the top a root that Hunk grips splinters. The sound of cracking wood echoes around them and for a moment there's the stomach dropping sensation of free falling.

Hunk uses his jetpack and kicks up against the wall for purchase to grab at another root just in time. He squeezes Keith against his body and that and the pull of gravity when they suddenly stop after falling is too much. Keith feels something tear inside and something warm gush out and he screams, nearly blacking out from the agony shooting up his side.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry! I'm going, I'm going!"

Keith shudders and gasps for air and feels hot tears prick the corners of his eyes. Everything's too blurry to see and all he knows is that they're moving up again and fast.

Suddenly they're moving toward a bright light and Keith hopes it's the cave entrance. He's kinda, things are...getting real fuzzy and that's a bad thing but he can't remember why anymore. There's a voice shouting next to his ear but he doesn't know what it's saying and he's too tired to care. He leans his head against Hunk's shoulder instead and closes his eyes. The voice is yelling again but he's so tired he can barely hear it. He goes to sleep.

* * *

When Keith comes to again, he's staring through blue tinted glass and everyone is looking at him. He's...he's...back at the Castle? Which means Hunk got him out in time.

Keith tries to ask how long he's been out for. "Huh?" is what he actually says before the glass gives way and he tips over, legs too weak to support his weight.

It isn't Shiro who catches him in time (although he's right by his side) but Hunk, who wraps his arm around him in a near crushing bear hug. The pressure is nice and comforting and Keith wraps his own arms around Hunk's middle in return.

The two stay like that for a long while. Keith can feel Hunk's tears soaking the Cryo Suit's collar but he doesn't care. And if Hunk can feel that his shoulder is just as damp when they finally pull away, he doesn't bring anything up.

* * *

**Pidge and Lance are mad at Keith and Hunk for exploring a cave system without them, and Shiro gives Keith an earful for being so reckless.**

**This was so much fun to write! I missed Voltron so much and I have some new stories in the works, so stay tuned for those!**


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